


they/it/we

by Murf1307



Category: Venom (Comics)
Genre: Alien Gender/Sexuality, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Eddie Brock, Other, Pronouns, Trans Eddie Brock, Trans Original Female Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 10:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16721529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: One night, the Symbiote asks Eddie a question that changes their lives forever.  No, not that one, another one.





	they/it/we

**Author's Note:**

> Nonbinary Eddie Brock is what I live for. This is mostly comics based, but could conceivably be movieverse if you bend and squint real hard.

_ Eddie.  Eddie. I have a question. _

I sigh.  Of course it does, it always does, and I love it for that, but right now, I just want to sleep.

“Is it about that show you watch?  I told you, I seriously doubt any of those people married for love, love.” I love it, but my other is hopelessly romantic, now that it understands the concept.

_ “No, _ ” it says out loud, its face sprouting so it can turn and look at me.  “ _ Better question.  More important.” _

“What is it, then?”

“ _ Why do you let people use the wrong words for you? _ ”

I blink, taking a moment to parse the question out, because whatever I expected, it sure wasn't  _ that.   _ “What do you mean, love?” I ask, trying to pretend that the question doesn’t cut like a straight razor.

“ _ They call you ‘he,’ but you’re a ‘they.’ _ ”  It leans up against my face, nuzzling me.  “ _ And you let them keep doing it.” _

I take a breath, because how the hell do I explain this?

“Love, humans assume,” I start, trying to get my thoughts in order.  “Humans assume that other humans with either be ‘he’ or ‘she,’ unless someone says otherwise.”  I stroke its head gently, almost absently. “And sometimes, well. It can be a bad idea to tell people you’re a  _ they _ rather than a he or a she.  They treat you like you’re crazy.”

It nuzzles me again, wrapping tendrils around me and squeezing comfortingly; it can feel the ache in my rib cage that talking about this leaves me with.

I’ve never had to talk about this before.  I’ve never told anyone, and it always just knew, because it’s in me, and I’m in it, and the idea of gender has never really entered into the equation in the end.

“ _ Not crazy.  Obvious. Beautiful. _ ”  It wraps around me tighter.

I’m trying not to cry, because it always knows exactly what to say.  “You can’t tell anyone, all right, my love?” I murmur. “This has to stay between us.”

“ _ Don’t like it.  Makes you sad.”  _ It gets like this, when it’s upset, going less verbal than normal.

“I know, love.  But our life is hard enough.”

“ _ Could eat the ones who don't like it.  They're bad.”  _ My other presses close.  

I smile, just a little.  “No, but thank you for suggesting it.” I stroke its head again.  “Let's just go to sleep.”

It does its equivalent of rolling its eyes, and slips back inside me, coiled warmly in my chest and the back of my mind.  I lay back and shut my eyes, reminded for the millionth time how lucky I am to have my other.

 

* * *

 

_ Eddie's sad.  They need someone to tell them it's okay to make people see them.   _

_ Can't do it myself.  Scares people when I try to do things when Eddie's asleep.  Too big. Too different from what this world likes.  _

_ This world doesn't like Eddie.  Wants Eddie to be different. _

_ But Eddie is  _ **_perfect._ **

_ So how do I fix it? _

 

* * *

 

When we  **swing** , everything fits just right.  Symbiosis makes us  _ better  _ than whole, and we eat the worst ones.  Isn't as bad, we think.

Tonight we rescue a girl.  Not full-grown, maybe sixteen.  Her hair flops over her eye as the boys harassing her flee in terror.   _ They look tasty _ , but we stay with her.  She's having a rough night.  Better to be kind to her than to be cruel to them.

“Who -- what are you?” she asks, but her fear is fading.

“We are Venom,” we say.  “And we save people now.”

She cocks her head to the side.  “We?”

“There are two of us.  Symbiosis makes us one.”  We smile at her. “Always together, but best like this.”

“Oh,” she says, and nods.  “I’m Suzie. Nice to meet you, Venom.”

It’s the nicest interaction we’ve had in a very long time, in this form.  People fear us, but  _ Suzie’s nice.  We like Suzie. _

“Could you walk me home?” she asks.

So that’s what we do.

 

* * *

 

_ Next night, while Eddie is sleeping, I take us to go see Suzie.  Suzie was nice. Was kind. Asked good questions, didn’t treat us like a monster. _

_ She jumps a little when I knock on her window, but she opens it and lets us in.  Lives in a nice room with a big flag by the bed, blue and pink and white. Soft colors. _

“So, what’s up?”  _ she asks, hand on her hip.   _ “Something wrong?”

“ _ Not really, _ ”  _ I say.  “Have some questions.  Not about you. Eddie says things, and I don’t always understand.  Could you help me?” _

“So, like, Eddie’s part of you?”   _ She looks us over, and I smile a little.  Small, like humans. Or I try to. _

_ “Yes.  Eddie and I are Venom together.  Asleep now, though. Didn’t want to argue about coming to visit you and ask questions.” _

“Cool.  What should I call you?” 

_ “...I am the Symbiote,” I say, not sure if that counts. _

“Okay,”  _ she says, nodding.   _ “So, what's your question?”

_ “Eddie doesn't want to correct people,” I tell her.  _ _ “Thinks people will call them crazy if they tell people to call them a them.” _

_ Suzie nods. _  “I get why they’d think that,”  _ she says _ .  “It's not easy to be trans in public.”

_ “Trans?” _

“Oh!  Right.  Uhh...do you know what a gender is?”

 

* * *

 

I think my other is up to something.  I can't prove that, but its mood has been strange lately, like it's waiting for something to happen.

We're home, working on drafting an article, when the doorbell rings.

_ Get it get it get it! _

I raise an eyebrow.  Usually, it doesn't react like that unless there's food involved.  But I do get up and get to our apartment door.

“Hi, uh, Eddie, can I call you Eddie?” It's the girl from last week, Suzie, and, with the way my life has gone, that puts me a little on edge.  But she's carrying a heavy looking box of books, so at least she doesn't  _ look  _ threatening.

“That's...my name?” I don't know how she knows it.

_ Suzie's our friend!  Suzie brought books! _

“So, uh, I guess the Symbiote hadn't told you about me yet, huh?” she asks, setting the box down.  I get a glimpse of a few of the covers.

_ Stone Butch Blues.  My Gender Workbook. Whipping Girl. _

I don't know these books, but it's starting to sink in, what my other must have done, and slick dread sinks into me.

“Uh, gimme a second,” I say to her, shutting the door in her face so I can talk to my other without looking like a crazy person.  “What the  _ hell  _ have you done?  You can't just go around outing me to strangers!”

_ Suzie's like you.  People didn't know she was a girl until she told them. _

Well, shit.  That at least explains the books.

I open the door again.  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting my other to have told anyone about this.  How about you bring those inside?”

Suzie grins.  “Yeah, absolutely.”

Frankly, I have no idea what I’m getting myself into.

 

* * *

 

We like Suzie.   _ See, said we would _ .  She comes by every now and then to bring more books.  We like reading, and we like learning about this.

We never would have thought to go looking.  We knew Eddie was different, and Eddie needed to be loved, but we didn’t know how to fix the problems until now.  And Eddie’s not yet ready to go all the way.

But here, like this, it matters less.   _ They, it --  _ the pronouns don’t matter like this.

The only one that does is  _ we. _

And no one can tell  _ us _ what to call ourselves.

We’d bite their heads off if they tried.


End file.
